Railroad signal-light



(No Model.)

J. F. BEAN. RAILROAD SIGNAL LIGHT.

No. 600,214. Patented Mar. 8,1898.

JAMES F. BEAN, OF MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA.

RAILROAD SIGNAL LlG HT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 600,214, dated March 8, 1898.

Application filed June 30, 1897. Serial No. 642,973. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it iitcty concern.-

Be it known that I, J AMES F. BEAN, residing at Martinez, in the county of Contra Costa and State of California, have invented a new and useful Railroad Signal-Light, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to semaphore-signals, and has for its object-to furnish means whereby a lamp may be raised into position and lowered therefrom without the necessity of climbing ladders for this purpose.

lVith this object in view myinvention consists in providing guide-lines by means of which the lamp, during the act of raising and lowering, will not be swung about 'by the wind or otherwise.

My invention further consists in providing means, operative from the ground, for raising and lowering the lamp.

My invention further consists of attaching the lamp-bail off the centers for a purpose 1 hereinafter described.

' to which my invention most nearly appertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view showing a sem aphore-post with signals thereon and having my invention applied thereto in position for practical operation, the lamp being shown during the operation of lowering. Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the same parts, the lamp being shown in position upon the rest with the semaphore-signal down. Fig. 3 is a front elevation with the parts in the same position as in Fig. 2.

Like letters of reference mark the same parts wherever they occur in the various figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings by letter, A is the ordinary semaphore-signal pole, and B the SGIDELPllOlG SlDELl, pivoted thereto in the usual manner at C.

D is an ordinary signal-lamp, the bail E whereof is secured to the lamp to one side of the center, whereby the lamp in raising or lowering will be held away from the supporting-arm of the brackets, which carry the guides and elevating mechanism.

F is a cord secured to the bail of the lamp, which passes over a pulley G and thence downward around a pulley 11, secured to the post, from whence it passes down in a vertical line along the post to within reach of the operator on the ground. The pulley G is supported from the horizontal arm or bracket I, the vertical arm I of which is secured to one side of the post A by means of nails, screws, or other suitable fastenings. Another horizontal arm I projects from this vertical arm I near its lower end, and forms a rest for the lamp while in its raised position. On top of the horizontal bracket I is a cross-arm K, from which depends near each end a cord or wire L, these cords or wiresbeing parallel to each other and suitably se cured in a manner to retain their parallelism at or near the ground, such lower connections being not shown in the drawings.

Projecting from the rear of the lamp are guides or brackets M, through which the guide wires. or lines L L pass, whereby the lamp is raised or lowered in a vertical line and prevented from being swung from side to side by the wind or otherwise, thereby avoiding the great danger of breaking the lamp attendant upon such swinging.

I11 operating my invention the lamp with its guides engaging around the guide-lines L L and having the cord F securely attached to the bail E and passing over the rollers G and H is ready to be raised. This operation may be performed by the operator while standing upon the ground by simply pulling upon the cord F until the lamp is raised to a point above the arm I and between the outer lens-supporting ends of the signal. During this operation of raising the connecting of the bail E to the lamp out of the center will cause the lamp to be kept sufficiently far away from the post, so as not to come into contact with the arm I After the lamp has been raised to its position it may be caused to rest upon the arm 1 thus relieving the cord F of the strain of supporting its Weight indefinitely. The attachment of the lamp to the guide-lines insures its movement in an absolutely vertical line, keeps it steady, and assists in preventing the lamp from being extinguished. I

The advantagesto be derived from the use of my invention will be obvious from the foregoing description.

While I have illustrated and described What I believe to be the bestmeans known to me for carrying out my invention, I do not Wish to be understood as limiting myself to the me act construction and arrangement herein described, but hold that such slight changes and variations as might suggest themselves to the ordinary mechanic will fall within the limit and scope of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. A semaphore-signal post having an upright arm secured thereto, provided with an upper horizontal arm and a lower horizontal arm with an upright thereon, a cross-bar se-' cured upon the upper horizontal arm atright angles thereto, guide-lines depending from lamp-bail, passed over said pulley and brought down to Within reach of theoperator, substantially as described. 7

2. A semaphore-signal post having an upright arm secured thereto, provided with an upper horizontal arm and a lower horizontal arm with an upright thereon, a cross-bar secured upon the upper horizontal arm at right angles thereto, guide-lines depending from the cross-bar parallel to each other, a lamp provided with a bail, secured outside of its central line, and with brackets through which the guide-lines pass, a pulley depending from the upper horizontal arm, a second pulley mounted in the bracket secured to one face of the post, and a cord secured to the lampbail passed over said pulleys and brought down to within reach of the operator, substantially as described.

JAMES F. BEAN.

Witnesses:

RoBT. B. BORLAND, A. H. BEAN. 

